


From the ashes

by metalkiralylany



Series: Ashes verse [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Breaking and Entering, Gen, I'm so sorry, M/M, POV will change with each fill, not multichaptered fic, possibly inaccurate depictions of blood testing and toxicology, tightly connected one shots I guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-01-10 22:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12308868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metalkiralylany/pseuds/metalkiralylany
Summary: Yuri’s hands were twitching, itching with the need to do something useful. He hated being useless more than anything. He got up and went over their packed up equipment once more, making sure that the box from the safe was securely tucked inside the hidden pocket of his backpack. Yuuri watched him from the floor with an unreadable expression and to his credit, he didn’t ask any questions.OR:The sequel toThe ashes of this worldbut can be read without it.AKA another criminals/thieves AU that slowly branches out into something more.The plan is to have a bunch of connected prompt fills set in the same universe. We'll see how that goes. POV changes with each chapter





	1. The poison in your veins

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so as the summary and the tags say, this is the second part of a series. The first part was mainly bits of backstory for Viktor and his relationship with Chris. I'd recommend everyone to read that first but it's not strictly necessary.  
> The main goal here was to fill a tumblr prompt but leave room for the others that I got, so there there are gaps and unexplained references all over the place. It's also 1 AM so I take no responsibilities for anything. Warnings for needles, sedatives and swearing.
> 
> My prompt was:  
> "Give me that!"  
> "Only if you don't kill anyone with it."

Viktor was annoying. He was so incredibly annoying and Yuri just wasn’t in the mood to deal with him on that particular day. Or any other day in the last few months, if he was being honest. Yuri wasn’t too much of a people person but he at least used to think that Viktor was an okay guy, mostly because he’d never tried to baby him just because he was young, not like the rest of them, his words were blunt and his eyes sharp and never missing anything. He was always willing to offer some useful advice, not that Yuri would ever admit that to his face. But that seemed to be all in the past now, and present day Viktor was nothing but a pain in his ass, a washed out shadow of his former self. By some miracle so far he still completed jobs without fail and with the precision that was pretty much his signature but it was all mechanic, lifeless and boring ¬– and so, so quiet and god, the silence pissed Yuri off. He used to think Viktor’s witty comments and jabs at him were bad but this was much, much worse.

He sighed, irritated. They needed to move on with the plan but Viktor was staring out of the window in the darkness, unmoving and completely distracted. Yuri had enough.

“What the fuck is taking you so long?!”

Viktor’s attention finally snapped back to the task at hand and the asshole had the nerve to pretend that he never lost his focus.

“We’re on a schedule here, you know, we don’t have time for you to daydream,” Yuri hissed at him.

“Relax, Yuri,” Viktor replied calmly.

“Fuck you, old man!”

Viktor’s lips curled into a teasing smile. “Someone’s in a mood today.”

“I was in a perfectly good mood until you pissed me off,” Yuri muttered angrily.

The other man chuckled but he was still moving at the pace of a snail by Yuri’s standards and he couldn’t deal with it anymore.

“Alright, give me that!”

“Only if you don't kill anyone with it,” Viktor deadpanned.

Yuri rolled his eyes. “It's a pen.”

“We both know you could think of at least ten ways to use it for murder,” the other man smiled at him saccharin sweetly.

“Fourteen,” Yuri muttered, holding out his hand. Viktor's smile grew wider.

“Yakov taught you well,” he said, handing the boy the object in question.

“He only taught me half of it,” Yuri grinned, turning to the screen revealed indented in the smooth surface of the huge oak office table. Between the two of them, he'd always been more skilled at forging signatures, and this one needed to be absolutely perfect, otherwise they could've just alerted the police themselves right there and then.  
Yuri took one deep breath and closed his eyes for a second, visualizing the handwriting he had studied the day before. His hand hovered over the empty space as he exhaled, and then drew the practiced lines in one fluid motion. The safe on the wall beeped twice, the red led light switching to green.  
Viktor nodded in Yuri’s direction in approval as he went to open it. The stainless steel door revealed a small, plain black box. Yuri’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“That’s it?”

“Yes,” Viktor replied simply and then he carefully reached inside with gloved hands. The moment he touched it he hissed in pain and let go of the box immediately. He withdrew his hands and stared at them, looking confused.

“What happened?” Yuri demanded to know as he took a step closer.

“Something stung me. A needle, I think.” Viktor’s uncertain voice made him wary. The man still hadn’t moved and he made no attempt to check for possible injuries.

“Take off your gloves!”

“I can’t move my fingers,” Viktor said and he sounded more surprised than anything. It annoyed the hell out of Yuri. That incompetent fool. He slammed the pen on the table and crossed the room in a few steps; then he practically yanked the gloves off Viktor’s hands.

They both winced at the sickly gray color of the tips of Viktor’s fingers. Whatever toxin the box had held was working fast.

“Well. That’s something new,” Viktor said with a bitter smile and a moment later his knees buckled and he fell to the floor.

Yuri cursed under his breath as he caught him just in time before he’d smash his head against the marble wall behind him. He laid the man on his side to save him from choking on his own tongue in case they couldn’t stop the spreading of the poison. Panic rose in him as he realized that they’ll have a much bigger problem if it shuts down Viktor’s breathing. He tried to think fast, he racked his brain for any person that could possibly help them but he kept coming up empty. He knew Beka was working a very complicated job somewhere in China and that just about closed the list of people he knew and trusted enough to call.

“I’m gonna have to call Yakov,” he said through gritted teeth and pulled his phone out of his vest’s pocket.

“No, not Yakov!” Viktor shook his head, breathing heavily – from pain or panic, Yuri didn’t know, nor did he want to.

“What other choice do we have?” he gestured around wildly. “In case you haven’t noticed we’re in the middle of nowhere and neither of us has a particularly wide circle of friends.”  
He winced as he saw a shadow crossing Viktor’s face but as much as it sucked, it was true.

  
Viktor was silent for a whole minute. When he spoke again, his voice was barely audible. “Call Chris!”

“I’m not calling your ex boyfriend!” Yuri snarled, finger ready to tap Yakov’s number on the screen.

“He’s not my ex boyfriend,” Viktor sighed and Yuri immediately rolled his eyes. “And yes, you’ll call him because you’d rather not deal with Yakov either.”

Yuri contemplated that for a second.

“Yes, he is.”

 

He pulled up the short list of contacts. He hit the call button and paced around the room as he waited for the other man to pick up.

“Hello?” Christophe’s distorted voice came through after the third ring.

“Giacometti?”

“Who’s asking?” the man asked, feigning nonchalance.

“It’s Yuri. Listen, I’m working with Viktor and he needs your help, are you available?” Yuri rushed to explain before Christophe had the chance to interrupt him with any of those weird comments of his.

There was a short pause at the other end of the line. Yuri rolled his eyes. This was exactly why he’d been reluctant to make the call. Whatever fucked up history those two had between them it was clearly an issue on the field. It was unprofessionalism they couldn’t afford.

Chris cleared his throat before he replied. “I’m in the middle of a job in Italy, where are you?”

“Tokyo,” Yuri sighed, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

“Tell me what you need, I might know someone!”

“Okay,” Yuri nodded to himself. “We don’t know what it is but Viktor was injected with some sort of paralyzing toxin, we have no extract team and he won’t let me call our handler.”

Christophe cursed under his breath. “How bad is it?”

Yuri looked over to where Viktor was lying motionless, keeping his eyes practically glued to the phone in Yuri’s hand. He wasn’t panicking and he had no trouble with his breathing yet but the ugly grayness had spread almost to his knuckles.

“He’s lying on the floor. He says hi,” Yuri replied, shooting Viktor a glare when he opened his mouth to interrupt him.

“Okay, shit.” Christophe let out a humorless chuckle. “I kept telling him to be more careful–”

Yuri was beginning to lose his patience. “Yeah whatever, we don’t have time for your nostalgia bullshit! Can you help or should I just hang up on you?”

“Alright, let me think!” Chris sighed. “I know someone in the area, I’ll call him first and if he’s free I’ll send over his contact. Just sit tight, okay?”

“Sure. But make it quick! I don’t know how long we’ve got,” Yuri said, glancing at Viktor again. The other man looked back at him silently with a strange look in his eyes.

“Of course.” Chris sounded more serious than Yuri thought him capable of being. “We’ll figure something out!”

“Thanks,” Yuri said reluctantly.

“Anytime,” the other man replied before he ended the call.  
 

 

Yuri started pacing again as he waited for the text. Viktor remained uncharacteristically silent.

“Hey, you still here?” he asked, crouching down in front of the man lying motionless on the floor.

Viktor smiled him bitterly. “Against all expectations.”

Yuri scoffed. “Any pain?”

“No. I’m just numb.”

“Can you move at all?”

“My head, maybe?” Viktor replied and he did manage to raise his head a bit, although it seemed like that it took him a lot of energy and concentration.

Yuri nodded. “Good. If it gets worse, you tell me immediately, clear?”

Viktor chuckled. “Who’s leading this mission again?”

“Not the idiot who got himself paralyzed,” Yuri shot back.

  
The phone beeped with a text one moment later.

 

  
_Send your coordinates to this number: 09051825343 he’s on his way_  
_Make Viktor sit up_  
_C._

 

  
Yuri quickly texted the number and a few seconds later he received a single thumbs up emoji as confirmation. Then he moved closer to Viktor, following Chris’s advice.

“Giacometti said you need to sit up,” he explained as he grabbed Viktor’s shoulders and hauled him upright against the wall. Viktor looked worse than he had a few minutes ago, his breathing slow and careful and he couldn’t hold his head up on his own anymore. Yuri positioned him so he could lean back, one side also supported by the wooden cabinet that matched the office table.

Through the glass front Yuri could see all the expensive looking bottles of whiskey and other spirits and he briefly wished they weren’t working. Sometimes Viktor dragged him out for drinks back home. Yuri kept calling him pathetic that he couldn’t find anyone else to hang out with but Viktor always ignored his insults and he went with him each time. After a while they even had their own table at a shady bar only visited by locals and people that had no good intentions. He didn’t want to think too deeply about what that said about their lives. Or the fact that he sometimes found himself missing those nights.

He was a professional though and this was an emergency. He tore his gaze away from the drinks and checked once more if Viktor was secure.

“Whoever Chris called will be here soon, I’ll pack up our stuff,” he said and he stood up.

“Take the box but be careful, there might be more surprises,” Viktor replied in a weak voice.

“I’m not you,” Yuri snapped. He really didn’t need any advice from that moron. Viktor laughed.

  
Yuri willed himself to stay calm as he neatly packed everything into his backpack including Viktor’s equipment. He folded up the empty bag. He figured even if Christophe’s contact could help, Viktor wouldn’t be in the condition to carry anything by the time they needed to leave to avoid being discovered. He checked his watch. There were approximately 43 minutes left before the sedatives would wear off and the confused night guards would start waking up.

  
After a few minutes Viktor broke the silence.

“Did Chris tell you who he’s sending?”

“No, and I didn’t ask.”

“I didn’t even know he had someone in Japan,” Viktor said and he looked like a kicked puppy. Pathetic.

“You haven’t talked in years,” Yuri pointed out.

“I know.”

“Viktor I swear to god, if you start crying I’ll punch you, I don’t care that you’re paralyzed!” The younger man practically snarled.

  
He was startled when the phone started vibrating on the table. The screen showed the number he had texted earlier and he picked it up quickly.

“Yeah?”

“Uhm,” the voice on the other end sounded momentarily confused by the non-greeting. “I’ll be there in three minutes. What floor?”

“Thirty-two, left wing, end of the corridor,” Yuri replied after almost missing a beat. That was fast.

“Okay. See you there!” The call ended. Yuri stared at the phone, scowling. He had no idea what kind of person was about to walk through the door. His accent was a strange mix of American and something else underlying that Yuri couldn’t quite place but it was most likely Japanese, considering their location.

“Three minutes,” he barked at Viktor and he began to pace the room, feeling completely useless. He went to check their equipment again. Then he made sure that neither of them had left any fingerprints or other sign of their presence. One minute left. He willed his hands to stop shaking.

“Calm down,” Viktor sighed, his eyes following Yuri around the room.

“Shut up! I don’t want to work another job with you, ever. Idiot!”

Viktor just smiled. Yuri wanted to shake him, to get that disturbing, pretending-not-to-be-dead-inside look off his face. “Well, as things are, you might not have to.”

“Nikiforov, I swear to–” Yuri stopped in the middle of the sentence he didn’t really know how to finish when he heard quiet footsteps from outside.

He pulled out his gun and crouched down, putting the table between him and the door and Viktor behind himself.

  
His phone buzzed with another text.

 

  
_I’m here._

 

  
Yuri put his phone away and stood up without making a sound. He walked to the entrance as quietly as he could, gun still ready to fire. He kicked the door open and stood by, his heart pounding loudly.

“Step inside, now!” he barked out an order. There were a few moments of silence from the other side of the wall before someone cleared their throat.

“How do I know you won’t shoot me?” a quiet voice asked. The accent sounded familiar.

“Who sent you?” Yuri asked, instead of answering.

“Chris,” the voice replied. “Look, I’m here to help but if I can’t trust you we won’t get anywhere.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

The person outside seemed to contemplate that. “Hm. Let’s see. He told me to tell Viktor that if he only pretends to be hurt again he’ll kill him personally. And that it’s been three years and twelve days since they last spoke, he’s deeply hurt…” he trailed off and when he continued his voice was almost an octave higher, “…and Viktor is an asshole. The rest I’d rather not repeat.”

“That sounds like him,” Yuri scoffed. Viktor said nothing. “I’m not going to put away my gun because that’d be stupid but you have my word that I won’t use it. I’m stepping out now!”

He did as he said so, he took a quick peek through the door and he saw the stranger’s silhouette under the faint glow of the emergency lights. Yuri stepped into the open doorframe, gun still aimed at the man in front of him. They were about the same height, which was all he could tell at first sight.

“I’m Yuri,” he said finally when the other man made no move.

“Me too,” the man nodded, smiling nervously. His hands twitched by his sides.

Yuri frowned.

“Wait a minute, are you _Katsudon_?”

The smile disappeared from the man’s face. “That was a misunderstanding,” he muttered.

Yuri said nothing as he gaped at him, his eyes darting up and down, assessing the person in front of him. He had no idea that Chris knew Katsu– _Yuuri_ – or that this was the legendary thief he had heard so much about. Not from Viktor, of course, he had been far too lost in his own head for the last couple of years. But the rest of the world was always whispering, creating an air of mystery around the person behind some of the most controversial heists around the world. He wasn’t perfect, on the contrary, as far as Yuri was aware, it was quite the miracle that he’s never been caught but that was exactly what made him so fascinating. One way or another, he’d definitely left his mark in the underworld.

The man looked clearly uncomfortable under his gaze, shifting his weight from one leg to the other awkwardly. Yuri closed his eyes for a second to regain his composure then he finally lowered his gun.

“Right. Let’s go, we don’t have much time!”

 

He stood by the door to let the other man in first as he didn’t trust him enough to turn his back on him just yet. Yuuri looked hesitant, probably for the exact same reason, which created a momentary standoff between them. There was no time to waste though, so Yuri was just about ready to give in against his best judgment but Yuuri moved first.

Yuri was right beside him as soon as he stepped through the door, his protective instincts kicking in as he watched the other man move towards Viktor who was completely defenseless, slumped against the wall with his eyes closed. For a moment of sheer panic Yuri thought he wasn’t breathing anymore but then thankfully he managed to open his eyes with what seemed like great effort.

Yuuri slid his backpack off his shoulders and he crouched down next to Viktor who followed his every movement with his eyebrows drawn together. Yuri almost rolled his eyes but he resisted the urge as it would’ve required him to look away even just for a second and he couldn’t allow himself to miss anything. As unlikely as that seemed, the man next to him still could’ve been an assassin posing as the famous Katsudon ¬– to be fair, the guy did act a bit too nervous for someone who was supposed to be a professional. When Viktor cleared his throat in an attempt to speak, he visibly flinched.

“You’re Chris’s friend?” Viktor managed to croak out, his voice hoarse and his words slightly slurred.

“Friend is a strong word,” the man muttered and even in the relative darkness of the room, Yuri could see him blush. “We worked together a couple of times. I’m Yuuri.”

Viktor was still frowning at him, taking short and shallow breaths. “He never mentioned you.”  
  
Yuri’s eyes kept shifting between the two of them, he was beginning to lose his patience.  
Yuuri’s blush deepened and he averted his gaze but then he seemed to change his mind. He turned back to Viktor with his eyebrows raised in a challenge and his dark eyes burning with pride.

“It’d have been hard for him to do so, given that you ignored him for years.”

 _Touché_ , Yuri thought.

 

Viktor looked like someone had just slapped him.

Yuuri sighed. “Listen, I came here to help, so just let me!”

Yuri was about to step in and yell at them for wasting everyone’s time when Viktor finally nodded. Yuuri returned the gesture.

“Okay,” he started. “What happened?”

“A needle,” Viktor mumbled. It was getting harder for him to speak and he started to look scared. “It stung me. From the box. I–” he had to stop to catch his breath.

“He said he couldn’t move his fingers,” Yuri interrupted. “His fingers turned grayish and he fell over.”

“How long did that take?” Yuuri asked, carefully taking Viktor’s hand in his palm to examine his skin.

“About two minutes,” Yuri replied. “Do you know what it is?”

“Maybe. I’ll have to draw some blood to make sure,” Yuuri said as he reached for his backpack. Yuri’s grip tightened on the handle of his gun.

 

  
Yuuri took out a bunch of devices and placed them on the floor. He opened a tiny brown box containing something shaped like a pen with a small screen and a short needle on one end. He gently took Viktor’s right arm again and placed the device to the crook of his elbow for a few seconds until the screen lit up with a string of numbers and letters Yuri didn’t understand. Yuuri then took another box, which held some kind of portable analyzer and he placed the device inside.  
Viktor watched him with distrustful eyes but he said nothing during the whole process.

Yuuri tapped some of the buttons on the analyzer then selected something on the screen. A few moments later the machine beeped twice. Yuuri leaned closer, narrowing his eyes, and then he nodded.

“What is it?” Yuri urged him.

“It’s a mix of toxins,” Yuuri replied, carefully considering every word. “Some I could guess, like STX and something to restrict his blood flow but this is a cleverly designed serum with substances that would cancel out any usual antidote.”

Yuri’s stomach lurched as he glanced at Viktor who was staring at Yuuri with wide eyes.

“But can you mix a new one?” Yuri asked, hoping that his voice didn’t betray the fear rising inside him.

Yuuri didn’t answer immediately. He took another look at the screen and opened the last remaining container, which revealed several rows of vials, all neatly labeled. He ran his fingers through the labels, checking each one before he finally raised his head again to meet Viktor’s eyes.

“Yes, I can.”

 

Yuri watched him work, taking some vials from their places with careful fingers, drawing their contents into a syringe and then injecting the whole thing into another device. While his hands were busy he was calm and focused, his previous awkwardness nowhere to be seen. It was confusing but quite fascinating at the same time, just like every story about him. He pressed a button on the side and it started whirring.  
Viktor looked at it suspiciously.

“How do I know,” he started to ask, his voice barely a whisper, “that you won’t just kill me?”

Yuuri held his gaze. “You’ll have to trust me.”

“If something goes wrong, I’ll shoot him,” Yuri interjected.

“That too,” Yuuri nodded.

Viktor let out a humorless chuckle. The machine beeped and a few minutes later Yuuri drew some clear fluid into another syringe.

“Before we do this,” he started, turning back to Viktor. “I must warn you for the possible side effects.”

“Can’t be worse than this,” Viktor muttered.

Yuri narrowed his eyes. “What kind of side effects?”

“There’s a sedative in the mix so you’ll fall asleep first. It won’t last longer than fifteen minutes, don’t worry,” Yuuri rushed to explain before the two men could’ve interrupted him. “It’s necessary to make the pain bearable, otherwise you’d be screaming and I’m guessing that you wouldn’t want that to happen.”  
They both nodded in understanding.

“You might be confused when you wake up,” Yuuri continued. “Everyone reacts to sedatives differently so we’ll just have to wait and see. But you’ll probably feel like you’re drunk or high. It’ll wear off but until then you might…” he paused for a second. “You might say or do things you don’t mean to.”

Viktor’s gaze didn’t waver. “Okay.”

Then he turned towards Yuri.  
“This is a warning for you too. You said you know me, so you also know who I work for.”  
Yuri nodded again.

“I came because I owned Chris a favor and once you two are back on your feet I’ll leave and this will never have happened. But Viktor will be out of it, so it’s your responsibility to keep him from spilling any trade secrets because I’m also loyal to my team, and I’d have no choice but to report to them. Is that clear?”

“Yes. I’ll tape his stupid mouth if I’ll have to,” Yuri said, shooting Viktor a death glare.

“Okay,” Yuuri sighed, turning back to Viktor. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Viktor replied, his eyes turning to steel.

Once injected with the serum Viktor’s eyes closed almost immediately. Yuri couldn’t help to check if he was still breathing and thankfully he also found a strong pulse.

Yuuri sat back on his heels. “And now we wait.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes with Yuuri checking Viktor’s vitals and the skin on his hands periodically. Color was starting to return to his fingers; the antidote was working.

Yuri’s hands were twitching, itching with the need to do something useful. He hated being useless more than anything. He got up and went over their packed up equipment once more, making sure that the box from the safe was securely tucked inside the hidden pocket of his backpack. Yuuri watched him from the floor with an unreadable expression and to his credit, he didn’t ask any questions.

After a while there was nothing else left to do so Yuri flopped down next to Viktor again. He checked his watch; there were still 6 minutes left before the drugs were supposed to wear off and approximately 19 in total before they had to leave. They were cutting it dangerously close but under the level of fear and annoyance, adrenaline was starting to bubble in his veins. He welcomed it, the excitement he hadn’t felt in so long, even if it meant nothing less than mortal danger. 13 minutes should be enough to get out of the building and far enough not to be noticed. It took them 3 minutes and 45 seconds to get here, so even with Viktor slowing them down it should be manageable.

 

Six minutes can feel like an eternity. Yuri kept checking the time but every second seemed to drag on longer than the previous. After a while he just couldn’t do it anymore.

“Hey, so what’s all this?” he asked, gesturing towards Yuuri’s equipment lying on the floor. The other man raised an eyebrow questioningly. “I know your work, and I’ve heard a lot about your methods. Everything you achieved in Detroit, the Cup of China, the Rostelecom job in Moscow… I also know it was you in Sochi last year.”

Yuuri’s face went red. He muttered something about unfortunate circumstances but it wasn’t the point Yuri was trying to make.

“But since when do you deal with stuff like this?”

“Oh.” Yuuri looked surprised. “My team had actually recruited me for my knowledge on toxicology. I don't think they expected me to get good at anything else,” he smiled bitterly.

“Huh. That's good to know.”

Yuuri shrugged. “At least my degree was worth the money.”

“Your degree,” Yuri repeated stupidly. “You're a thief with a degree,” he snorted.

“How is that worse than any other thief?” Yuuri asked, cocking his head to the side.

Now it was Yuri's turn to shrug. “I just never thought about it. I mean… When this is all you know…” he shrugged again.

  
“Ah.”

“I never wanted to go to college.” Yuri had no idea why he was talking to the enemy about his stupid life but the situation was surreal on its own and somehow he couldn't stop himself. “But I think Viktor did.”

Yuuri nodded in understanding. “From what I've heard about him, I'd think so too.”

 

“You’ve heard about me?”

Viktor’s slightly slurred mumbling made both of them jump. That sneaky bastard…

“Of course?” Yuuri sounded confused and Yuri couldn’t blame him. “Everyone knows you.”

“They do?” Viktor frowned in concentration then shook his head. “They would think!”

He sat up so suddenly that Yuri almost fell on his back in the attempt to avoid being headbutted by the older man who seemed to have some problems with coordination.

“But why don’t _I_ know _you_?” Viktor emphasized his point by jabbing his index finger against Yuuri’s chest.

“I told you, I’m–”

“But you have the prettiest eyes!” he exclaimed like this somehow explained everything, successfully making Yuuri blush while Yuri rolled his eyes. “And the softest skin,” he whispered after grabbing Yuuri’s hand and holding it up to his cheek.

“Uhm. Thanks?” Yuuri said and he tried to pull his arm away but Viktor wasn’t having it.  
  
“I need this,” he said firmly. “Room’s spinning.”

“Oh my god, I forgot how annoying drunk you can be,” Yuri said dragging a hand across his face before he glanced at his watch again. “Hey, Viktor!”

Viktor didn’t appear to be listening, momentarily distracted by Yuuri’s hair. This was ridiculous.

“Viktor!” Yuri tried again, louder this time. Viktor’s cloudy eyes wandered over to him. “Can you stand up?”

“I can try,” the other man muttered, right before he would’ve slammed his head against the wall if Yuuri’s reflexes were slower. “Wow,” he concluded.

“Maybe if we both help…” Yuuri said, looking at Yuri expectantly. He sighed.

“Okay, come on!”

Together they managed to haul a very unstable Viktor to his feet. Yuri held him upright while Yuuri quickly gathered his equipment and strapped his backpack on. Then he slid his arms around Viktor’s waist so Yuri could do the same.

He took a quick walk around the office one more time to make sure they weren’t leaving any fingerprints or other clues behind. He tapped the screen indented in the table to erase all date from the last two hours and he put the missing panel back on the wall to cover the now empty safe. They had 12 minutes left. Yuri was starting to believe that they would actually make it.

Together they shuffled out of the room, trying their best to keep (Viktor) quiet. Yuri was seriously considering using the leftover tape to shut him up because it was one thing that his constant dramatic narration of events like turning a corner or stopping to check for guards was incredibly annoying but it was also jeopardizing the mission.

“Was this really necessary?!” he hissed at Yuuri after they almost tripped down a flight of stairs.

“I’m sorry,” Yuuri whispered back over Viktor’s shoulder. “I told you, I had no way of predicting how he’d react.”

“I’m not reacting!” Viktor protested and he was legitimately pouting. But a second later he seemed to forget that he was supposed to be upset as he nuzzled his nose against Yuuri’s neck. The man mumbled something to get him to stop but in all honesty, it was a rather half-assed attempt because this was still better than him talking loudly. This was just pathetic.

“Shut up!”

They were almost out by then, surprisingly unnoticed considering they weren’t exactly being stealthy at the moment. A few more floors and one steel door later Yuri could finally take his first deep breath in what felt like hours from the cool night air of the city. It was almost too easy but Yuri wasn’t about to second guess the first good thing that happened that day.

 

Their steps echoed in the empty back alley as they made their way towards the car parked at the end of the block. Yuuri decided to tag along until they were at a safe distance from the scene and Yuri was grateful for his presence, even if he wouldn’t have admitted that out loud.  
Viktor continued to be incredibly annoying with his completely random comments on whatever caught his attention, including but not limited to Yuuri’s firm shoulders and the length of Yuri’s hair, their reflection on the dark glass wall of the building on their left or his own rather uncooperative legs. Yuri kept walking with gritted teeth, secondhand embarrassment and humiliation eating away his patience even in the light of their relative success. The item had been retrieved, payment was only minutes away. Still, he was the furthest from satisfied because from a professional standpoint, the mission had been a complete disaster and Yakov would undoubtedly lecture them on it later.

The cold night seemed to help quiet Viktor down, so by the time they reached the plain black car he was just mostly swaying on his feet in silence. A weight of sudden awkwardness settled around them as they got inside, Yuri to the driver’s seat with Viktor and Yuuri side by side in the back. Yuuri was rather quiet as well and Yuri couldn’t blame him for being overwhelmed; even if he’d managed to tune out most of Viktor’s babbling and embarrassing flirting he had heard more than enough for a lifetime. It was all stupidly sweet and of course – a complete drug-induced lie.

He shook his head in disbelief. They had been worried about Viktor spilling secrets when reality ended up proving that neither sober nor drugged Viktor cared enough to even think about that. Anger burned high in the pit of his stomach. It was irrational, a complete overreaction over something that should’ve been a good thing. They were good. There’d been no permanent setbacks. But still, there was a voice in the back of his mind, whispering that this, this was the end of something.

None of this would’ve happened a few years ago; Yuri knew this just as he knew that he meant what he had said earlier in that office. He made a mental note to call Beka as soon as they were off the grid to let him know that after turning him down the last four times, this time he was in.

The car came to a smooth stop inside the empty warehouse and Yuri watched as Yuuri got out with Viktor not far behind him. Yuuri turned back and nodded towards him curtly and Yuri returned the gesture.

The two men walked over to the furthest corner of the building where Yuuri leaned against the tower of neatly stacked car tires. Viktor was back to himself now, explaining something to the other man with a serious face, dragging a hand through his short hair in frustration. Yuri had no idea what they were talking about and he didn’t particularly care, but he did notice as Yuuri’s face became more and more guarded until his expression was completely void of emotions.  
He texted Beka that he’d be ready to talk in an hour and by the time he looked up again, Yuuri was gone and Viktor was making his way back to the car. He resisted the urge to drive away without him.

 

When he got back inside they just sat there in silence. Finally Yuri couldn’t hold back anymore.

“You fucked up,” he said. Viktor just nodded.

“I’m done working with you.”

The silence was deafening.

“Not just because of today,” he clarified, even though there was no need.

“I know.” Viktor’s voice was so tired that for a second Yuri wanted to slap him. Maybe shake some life back into him.

Instead he just sighed. “Good.”

He started the car again and they drove out of the warehouse without speaking another word.


	2. No one plans for a disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV: Chris  
> Bringing together a team of criminals to break someone out of prison is no small task, especially if you have no idea what you're up against.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally written for a prompt but look, I have no idea anymore... Still not exactly multichaptered fic, more like bits and pieces of a bigger story set in the same universe. 
> 
> Warning: I don't want to spoil it but if you don't like "surprises" please check the end note before reading!

Chris stared at the short, coded message. It came from an unlikely source but he had no reason to doubt the accuracy of its contents. He couldn't even bring himself to be surprised, if he was being honest, this had been coming for a long time. He took a deep breath and quickly typed out a reply before he pushed himself away from the table. He walked into the tiny kitchen to start some coffee and he took out an old notebook from his traveling backpack. Planning required a generous amount of caffeine after having been awake for nearly 30 hours, and taking notes the old fashioned way helped him focus and be more thorough.

First, he needed to figure out who he could count on. There was no way he could do this alone, even if he was confident in his own skills, he also had the ability to be realistic. As the strong, cleansing smell of hot coffee began to fill the air, he started to scribble down names and phone numbers.

 

***

 

The plan was the opposite of foolproof. In fact, it had so many gaps and opportunities for everything to go straight to hell that on any other occasion Chris would've called anyone insane for wanting to go through with it. But this time even Yuri was uncharacteristically quiet, barely objecting to anything, and he either ran out of insults to throw at everyone or he was desperate enough to play nice. For Chris, this was the scariest option.

Altin didn't speak much, not that anyone expected him to do so, and as usual, his comments and concerns were valid and prioritizing absolute necessities. They had been leaning over the blueprints of the facility for hours, only taking occasional breaks to refill their empty coffee mugs. Chris was already sick of the taste and he had to close his eyes while pinching his nose to keep the room from spinning. He could barely see, it occurred to him that he should probably take out his contacts for a while. He excused himself from the room to find his glasses.

 

He leaned over the bathroom sink and stared at his own reflection in the small mirror. He looked like hell, his red eyes barely focusing, framed by the messy blond locks falling over his forehead and some rather unflattering dark circles underneath. He had spent half his life living on a hectic schedule, running on caffeine and adrenaline, and it was starting to show. He was getting old.

 

Well. Not old by usual standards, but he was dancing right on the edge of retirement. In this field of work timing meant life or death, retirement meant recognizing the end of your strength before someone else does and you wind up in ditch somewhere with a bullet between your eyes because you just weren't fast enough.

 

He sighed. Time was a double-edged sword; Chris had always been great at forging plans and using it to his own advantage, placing his trust into the hands of the clock, but every mission left its own mark, the years carving shallow lines into the soft skin around the corner of his eyes and across his forehead. Soon it would be time for him to step back, let people like Plisetsky and Altin handle all the action – it was actually starting to sound nice. But at first they needed to handle the current situation. If they survive the next two days, then maybe, just _maybe_ …

 

He splashed cold water on his face before he put on his glasses, heading back to the main room where the other two men were still huddled over the table, pointing at  something on the map, arguing in hushed voices. Then Yuri scowled at Altin who stood his gaze impassively until Yuri sighed loudly, and that was the end of whatever silent conversation they had been having. Chris couldn't help the smirk on his face as he watched them. It had been a while since he had last seen either of them, and the way they were standing there with no space between them, communicating with barely any words necessary showed a lot of history, even more so to someone with knowing eyes.

 

“What’s so funny?” Yuri snapped at him, which only made his smile grow wider. At last, a familiar reaction. “Nevermind, I don’t want to hear it,” Yuri said a few seconds later with an expression of mock-disgust.

 

“Is there a problem?” Chris asked more seriously now, looking at the two of them expectantly.

 

They both shook their heads.

 

“Good. Then let’s go over it one more time!”

  


***

  
  


They were getting ready in complete silence besides the occasional clinks of metal as they all loaded their handguns and Otabek checked and re-checked his rifle - not that they were planning on using weapons if it was avoidable, but they had to be prepared for anything.

 

Chris watched as Yuri slid a boot knife into place, two Taurus G2s into the holsters on his belt and put a butterfly knife in one of his pockets, while he cleaned his own Glock 43 for the last time before he finally put it away, recognizing the pattern of anxiety in the movements. He steadied his hands on the back of the wooden kitchen chair that had seen better days. The room fell silent around him once the last clips were in place, every strap fastened and all three men ready to go.

Chris took a deep breath. The other two looked at him expectantly. Was he supposed to give them a speech? He highly doubted that Yuri would've been willing to listen to anything he could probably say but still, it seemed to be the common understanding that he was in charge. If not of the entire mission, then setting it in motion. The air of the small apartment was heavy with doubt, but there was no way any of them would give in to it now. There was too much at stake. It was all very personal to each person in that room, and that's what made it the biggest risk they would ever have to take.

 

Yuri had apparently lost his patience. He scoffed, yanking at the strap of his small backpack.

“Any day now, old man!”

Christophe glanced at the blueprints of the prison center one more time. “Let's go!”

 

***

 

The ride there was eerily silent, the tangible tension between them threatened to rupture at any second but they were nothing if not professionals, so each of them dealt with it their own, quiet way. Chris's hands tightened around the steering wheel as they turned the last corner before they reached Point Zero, where the rest of the team was supposed to be waiting for them.

 

They were greeted by three figures in the alley when they got out of the car. Chris only recognized two of them. Yuuri nodded towards him curtly while the other man – Chulanont, the star hacker of the scene – waved at the small group. Yuuri stepped to the side to introduce the third member they hadn't met yet. She looked older than Yuuri but it was clear from the start that they were related.

“Who's this?” Yuri apparently didn't have time for civilities. “She wasn't part of the plan.”

The woman stood his angry stare impassively.

“Mari is my sister,” Yuuri answered before the situation could escalate any further. “She was my tutor growing up and I'd trust her with my life. We also worked the Hasetsu job together. She'll be our outside guard tonight.”

Yuri's eyes widened in surprise as he sized up the person in front of him. Finally, he stepped back without another word.

 

“Alright then,” Chris spoke after a beat of silence. “Does anyone have any last minute questions?”

The group remained silent. He looked around one more time before nodding. “Good luck to all of us!

 

The plan was pretty straightforward: infiltrate the building, get to the target without being noticed, create a distraction if necessary, get out. Each of them had a perfectly orchestrated role in it, if all went well, it should have gone like clockwork.

 

Chulanont took his place inside the black minivan parked in the shadows. His job was to monitor all security cameras and override the prison’s electronic lock system. It was supposed to be a piece of cake for someone with his reputation. Mari was guarding the van while also keeping an eye on the street. If the mission somehow went to shit, she was supposed to find a way to stop possible reinforcement from getting into the building.

 

Chris watched as Yuuri fixed his glasses with slightly shaking fingers. His gray suit fit him perfectly, his slicked back hair giving him the air of professionalism and business-like appearance the plan required. Chris clapped the other man on the shoulder, startling him, which he would've laughed at in a different situation. Tonight they had all seemed to lost their sense of humor though.

“Five minutes,” he reminded Chris one more time before he took one last deep breath and started walking towards the other end of the alley where the first security station was located.

Chris checked his wristwatch before looking up at Yuri and Altin, crouched at the farther corner of the building that shielded them from view, already waiting for the signal. Yuri raised his thumb at him and one second later they both disappeared into the night.

 

Five minutes. That was all Yuuri needed to neutralize the prison guards with the new cocktail he had cooked up for this occasion. The hallucinogen infused with sedatives ideally should have given them enough time to get in and out relatively safely while Chulanont manipulated the security footage and disabled the metal detectors, and also kept the doors open for them just long enough to avoid suspicion.

 

Three minutes. Chris caught Mari's eyes under the faint light of a streetlamp. The woman didn't look nervous, she adjusted her grip on her rifle and stepped closer to the street corner to get a better view of the prison building. She really must have trusted her brother to handle the situation, it was clear that the setup wasn't new to her. Chris briefly wondered what other secrets the Katsuki family might have harbored.

 

Two minutes. Yuuri should've made his rounds on the calculated route by then. Chris checked his guard uniform again, even though he knew it was flawless. There was just nothing else to do.

He did everything in his power to focus on the task at hand but still, his mind refused to stay quiet. He imagined the moment at least twenty different ways, but it always ended with disappointment. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of it.

 

Thirty seconds. The establishment was quiet, it was safe to believe that everything had been going according to plans so far.

 

“You're up!” Chulanont's voice came through the earpiece and Chris was immediately on his way. He put on his best bored expression as he went past the first layer of security gates. The guard outside looked just as tired and apathetic as he pretended to be, barely glancing at him once his ID card was validated by the system.

He walked straight ahead, through the metal reinforced doors; he held his breath unconsciously while he passed the metal detectors that remained offline.

“Second door on the right.” Chulanont was supposed to guide him in the maze of corridors and back out once he reached Point X. They already knew that the inmates were regularly moved between cells as some got transferred to other institutions and new prisoners arrived and went through processing. Chris didn't really have to worry about actual guards not recognizing him, the building was huge, it was impossible to know every single person working there due to frequent changes in personnel. As long as he walked the corridors with confidence, he was fine. (He also didn't have to worry about being recognized for who he was. The authorities still couldn't match a physical description to his crimes.)

“Turn left at the next corner,” Chulanont instructed. “Walk up the stairs and then just go straight past the security cubicle. It's almost time for the next count so most people are already in their cells.” Chris's heart was hammering in his chest. The less he thought about where he was and what he was about to do the better, but still, there was adrenaline pumping through his veins and fear creeped into the back of his mind. If this went wrong, he had enough on his tab to earn life sentence. All of them did. And they still took the risk without a second thought.

The corridor was empty, there weren't any inmates held on ground level. The white paint of the walls was almost blinding under the harsh neon lights of the ceiling. The rubber soles of his black boots made the only noise apart from low chatter coming from above and the sound of cell doors being shut  echoing around the building. The air felt stuffy around him, the pressure making his hearing dull. This was something he had only felt once before, that first time, in a car somewhere in Sofia when blind panic clouded his senses for a few terrifying seconds.

He shook himself mentally and focused on the present. He jogged up the stairs with ease and walked past the glass cubicle in the common area. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the person inside sitting slumped in his chair with his eyes closed. Yuuri had done his part well.

“Last cell on the right,” Chulanont said. “I'll open the lock in twenty seconds. “There's a cellmate. Be careful with him!”

Chris nodded curtly in confirmation as he walked. He knew the hacker could see it through the cameras.

 

He took one last deep breath before he reached his destination. He stopped in front of the metal bars and pretended to unlock it with his card, timed perfectly as Chulanont overrode the system. He stepped in, and one inmate immediately stood up, confused. The other one remained sitting on the lower bed.

“Random inspection!” Chris exclaimed as he closed the bars behind himself. He tried to stay in character but as his eyes wandered over to the figure on the bed, his face must have betrayed him because the inmate was now looking at both of them with his eyebrows drawn together in an attempt to assess the situation.

 

The other man chuckled softly.

“I knew you'd come.”

 

His voice was hoarse and weaker than Chris had remembered. And he looked so much older, his silver hair shaggy and unkept, so unlike him.

 

“Why?”

It was stupid, he knew it the moment the question left his lips. But after years of _nothing_ but bitterness and unanswered calls  he couldn't stop himself.

Viktor's lips curled into that sad half-smile of his, the one that didn't reach his dead eyes and what Chris had hated the most. He ran a hand through his hair, so much shorter than the last time they had seen each other.

“Well, it's a change of scenery.”

“I'm not even going to comment on that,” Chris replied.

“I don't think this is the time for trading stories,” Viktor said next, glancing behind Christophe, and he was right, as usual.

Chris saw from the corner of his eye that the other prisoner was staring at them, and he saw the exact moment realisation clicked in the man's head.

“Holy shit. You're _them_!” the man whispered.

 

They all moved in sync. The man reached for a panic button on the wall as Viktor lurched forward and caught his arm, twisting it behind his back with a painful crack. He had no time to scream because Christophe covered his mouth with one hand while he stuck a needle right into a vein on his neck with the other. After some brief struggling the body went limp. They placed him on the bed in a more natural position.

 

“What's the plan?” Viktor asked, keeping an eye on the corridor. No one seemed to have noticed the incident so far.

“I'll walk you to ground level. We'll get rid of your uniform and then we'll simply leave the way I came. No blood spilled.”

Viktor grinned at him. “It must be quite the team you've built if you can pull this off, my friend!”

Chris didn't return the smile. “Chulanont knows what he's doing.”

Viktor's grin faltered. “Chulanont?”

“Yes. He's a friend of–”

“Is Yuuri involved?”

“Yes, but what–”

“He can't be where I am! Tell him to get out now!” Viktor looked more upset than Chris had ever seen him, his face completely white, save for the dark purple circles under his eyes. “Okay, what the hell is going on here, Viktor?!” Chris snapped as he tried to concentrate on what was going on inside the cell while he also had to deal with Chulanont blabbering into his earpiece.

“I can't tell you right now, there's no time!”

_“Chris, you need to leave now! Sort it out later!”_

“Let's go then!” he nodded and grabbed Viktor's arm a bit more forcefully than it was strictly necessary. The unclarity of the situation put him on edge. He was usually very flexible in solving the trickiest problems, that was sort of his trademark in the line of business, but this was different. This was either one hundred percent success or absolute failure.

Viktor made no attempt to resist as the bars clicked shut behind them. He was willing to play along.

“Now go back the way you came,” Chulanont said more calmly. “That route is still the safest.”

Chris pushed Viktor forward slightly and they marched through the empty corridors with confident steps. Phichit has given them no warnings so far, but still, Chris kept glancing back behind his shoulder. He could swear something wasn't right.

A few turns later he spotted him. One man several feet behind them.

“There's a guard following us,” he murmured both to Viktor and Phichit.

“Give me a sec, I don't see anyone…” Chulanont replied, his words followed by the sounds of typing as he tried to find the right camera feeds. “Gotcha!” he exclaimed a few seconds later. “Turn left at the… oh god. That's not a guard!”

There was a strong chill running down Chris's spine and everything seemed to slow down around them. “I know him from Korea! You need to disappear now!”

 

It _was_ too easy. Chris had to admit that he would've been disappointed if they could just walk out of there unscathed, but it was impossible to feel the thrill of danger when he didn't see half the picture.

 

“I'm calling in Altin,” Phichit said and for a second Chris couldn't hear anything but static. They had kept their lines of communication separate to make it easier to focus but this was an emergency.

“I'm at Wing B, where do I go?” Altin’s deep voice came through the ether a moment later.

“They're at the intersection crossing over to C,” Phichit explained quickly. “One agent tailing them. “One of you needs to take care of it before–”

 

There was a muffled crack coming from behind and a second later Viktor's knees buckled and he bit his tongue in an attempt to silence his scream.

Chris's entire body froze before his instincts carried him on, pushing Viktor in front of himself and turning the corner as fast as he could manage. He wanted to stop and assess the damage but they couldn't, they had to keep going.

“What happened?” Altin’s question came a moment later, at the same time as Phichit started swearing.

“Should I go back there?” Yuuri’s worried voice joined the chaos that was the now open comms line.

“Where were you hit?” Chris asked Viktor as quietly as he could manage while half running, half dragging the other man towards the stairs.

“Left side,” Viktor panted, whimpering in pain with every step. I don't think it hit anything important but I can't go any faster!”

“We're almost there,” Chris replied, more to reassure himself that they could really make it than anything else.

“I'm slowing you down!”

“You don't get to be the drama queen tonight!” Chris snapped at him.

“Down the stairs and to the left!” Phichit seemed to had regained his composure. “Yuuri, there are three guards headed to point A, take care of them before they get there!”

_“Got it!”_

“Yuuri needs to leave!” Viktor tried again, even though he couldn't hear the conversation currently happening.

Chris glanced back again, just in time to lock eyes with the dark haired man coming up behind them. A moment later the figure stopped mid-step with a look of shock on his face before he fell over like a sack.

“Goddamit! Now there's a body!” Chulanont stated the obvious.

“I had no choice,” Altin said, his voice completely void of emotions. A moment later he turned the corner and nodded towards Chris before he stopped to check the man lying on the floor. “The King's team!” he reported. “What the hell is going on?”

“ _The King_?” Chris spluttered and Viktor's head snapped up immediately.

“Stop!” Viktor grunted beside him. “I have to–” he stumbled over his own feet and he would've fallen if Chris hadn't been there to catch him.

“Viktor needs a moment. How long do we have?” Chris asked as he helped the other man to lean against the wall, clutching his side. He was pale even though they had almost been running. He must have lost a lot of blood.

Altin stood guard behind them silently after he dragged the body of the assassin into a small storage closet.

“Ninety seconds at best,” Phichit replied almost immediately. “But you better hurry!”

“Copy that!”

“Chris, you don't understand!” Viktor's voice sounded weak, he could barely catch his breath. “This is bad!”

Chris let out a hysterical laugh. “You think?!”

“I was following Yuuri,” Viktor went on.

“What?”

“I was following him on his last job. It was a trap. I made a scene to let him escape.”

“But… why?” Deep down, Chris had a feeling about _why,_ but Viktor couldn't have been _that_ desperate.

“We don't have time for details,” Viktor hurried to explain between shallow breaths. “But I found out what he was supposed to steal. Someone, I don't know who _yet_ , wanted that container.” He closed his eyes to regain his focus.

“What for?” Chris was beginning to lose his patience and they only had about 30 seconds left.

“I'm not sure. Some kind of weapon. But on a mass scale, Chris. I'm not a scientist but what was in that one box would be enough to wipe out half the continent. Or worse. I haven't figured out what it'd do. But that's not all. They wanted Yuuri for it too.”

“How do you know that?” Maybe this wasn't the most important question but the whole thing felt wrong on a level he could barely comprehend. They were thieves. Not the small and petty kind, but still, at the core this business was nothing more. They weren't heroes. They weren't supposed to be involved in global scale conspiracies or whatever the hell this was.

“I have my sources,” Viktor replied curtly. “I know we didn't sign up for this but… We can't let this happen, the risk is too high, he needs to run!”

“Does Yuuri know?” Chris asked. He needed time to process the rest of it, but he had to understand where everyone stood in this.

“No,” Viktor spoke again at the exact same time Yuuri said _“He does now.”_

“Two wardens incoming!” Phichit’s voice interrupted the moment.

“Come on,” Chris grabbed Viktor's arm and put it around his own shoulder, “we need to go!”

 

He dragged Viktor forward without really feeling his weight, Altin following them with his gun still drawn. They reached the meeting point without any further complications which was a miracle in itself. They slid into the dark storage room where Plisetsky greeted them by pointing a pistol right between Viktor's eyes. He seemed more pissed than usual but he swallowed his insults as he joined Altin in guarding the entrance.

Yuuri didn't look at either of them as he helped Viktor get out of his bloody prison uniform and hastily bandaged up the wound on his side. Viktor barely made a sound during the whole process, and didn't take his eyes off Yuuri for a single second.

“Wait one minute,” Chulanont instructed the team.” Then you're good to go. Otabek and Yuri should stay last.”

“Got it,” Plisetsky snarled into the line.

 

“Can you walk on your own?” Yuuri turned to Viktor. He blushed furiously as he met Viktor's intense gaze that didn't falter even when he was barely holding up.

“I think?” the man replied, then immediately swayed on his feet dangerously. “ _Shit_.”

“This should help,” Yuuri said, digging out a small syringe from his backpack. “May I?” he hesitated, showing Viktor the label. When he nodded he went ahead and stuck the needle deep into his arm. Color seemed to return to Viktor's face almost immediately. “It's not a long term fix but it should be enough to get us out of here,” he explained.

“Thank you,” Viktor nodded towards him.

“Thank _you,_ ” Yuuri replied quietly.

Silence fell around them as they waited for the signal to move.

 

Chris found that focusing on getting out safely left no room in his mind to contemplate the meaning of what Viktor had told them or even plan ahead for more than 20 minutes. He was in survival mode, hyper focused on Viktor walking steadily beside him, ready to reach out, would he ever stumble again.

The night guard barely glanced at them on their way out and in any other situation Chris really would've wondered about the plain ridiculousness of prison security in this country, but he was too busy breathing free air again.

It wasn't over yet, they still had to make it out of the district to the safehouse. Phichit instructed Altin and Plisetsky to leave as well. They would be out of the building in two minutes.

 

Chris could sense that Viktor was about to reach the end of his strength, and he was about to reach out to support him, but Yuuri got there first, sliding an arm around his waist.

There was an echo of something constricting his chest for a second, a ghost of a memory thatt left a bitter taste on his tongue. They couldn't go back to what they had been before, that much was obvious, and Chris didn't wish for it. Still, the ugly feeling of jealousy remained, hiding in the back of his mind to creep out in unexpected minutes.

 

They reached the corner turning into the alley where Mari was waiting for them. She was about to say something when suddenly earsplitting blast, a destination so massive they all stumbled backwards. Through the ringing of his ears Chris couldn't make out what anyone was saying but through the tears in his eyes he saw the remnants of the black minivan being consumed by flames.

 

After a moment of shock Viktor almost fell over on his right because Yuuri let go of him in an attempt to run towards the burning van. Mari caught his arm and held him in place firmly, talking to him in that calm voice of hers.

“There's no point! Look at it, Yuuri! If Phichit was in there, I'm sorry but he's gone!”

Yuuri yelled something at her while he tried to break free from her grip, but Mari was stronger than she looked and with sadness in her eyes she waited for her brother to stop fighting.

They all stood there then, unable to take their eyes off the sight and with no idea where to move next. The plan didn't cover a scenario like this. It seemed impossible.

A minute later there was a sound of screeching tires coming from behind them. A car pulled up next to the shocked group with Altin at the wheel.

 

“Get in!” Yuri yelled at them when no one moved. “There's nothing we can do but police will be here soon!”

Chris could already hear the sirens from the distance.

They all piled into the car then, dragging Yuuri with them, and Chris barely closed the door when they were already on their way.

 

The ride to the safehouse was silent, the air around them filled with nothing but smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: suspected character death but no one is actually sure so far

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry about any mistakes I made, I'm sure there were quite a few because I still don't have a beta and this was overall a mess.


End file.
